The People of the Outer Islands

Welcome to One People One Reef!

We are a group of communities and scientists working together to keep the reefs, culture and people of the Micronesian Outer Islands healthy.

One People One Reef is a unique solution to ocean management and conservation. We work in collaboration with with outer island communities to bring traditions and modern science together in a revolutionary approach to sustainable ocean management.

Micronesian Outer islanders from the remote atolls of the Yap and Chuuk outer islands in the western Pacific have sustainably managed their oceans for centuries, even millennia. Their culture, traditions and livelihoods are intimately linked to the reefs that surround their islands. However, their future is threatened by rapid environmental and cultural change. In 2010, they recognized a decline in fish populations and reef health, along with human health challenges. They asked for help to learn more about how to manage a sustainable food supply from their oceans in the face of these changes, a critical issue for their present and future wellbeing. We are a team of scientists who came together to respond to the outer islanders call for assistance. Our response was a revolutionary approach that lets communities lead through traditional management backed by modern science. Explore our website to learn more about our program’s history, approach, and what makes us unique.

One People One Reef works closely with Bluecology, whose mission is to preserve marine wildlife and ecosystems through community-based programs which foster informed choices that will reduce adverse human impact on the marine environment.

Your donation to One People One Reef will help us continue and expand our unique type of ocean conservation across the Micronesian Outer Islands and beyond.One People One Reef works in collaboration with Bluecology to handle donations. Your donations will be directed to the One People One Reef programs!

“For it is true that the Ocean unites us and brings us together but the Reef sustains us in so many ways.”

-Sabino Sauchomal

Our Projects

We are implementing a unique approach to advance adaptive management and conservation in Micronesian outer islands.

We combine modern science, education and human services to assist the communities of the outer islands achieve their goals of self-sufficiency and to protect their marine resources.

Here are a few of our projects:

Youth Action Project

The Youth Action Project was created in response to community’s view that an education focus on sustainable ocean management should include their youth. In partnership with Bluecology, the Youth Action Plan Project was developed in 2015 and the first youth team arrived shortly after Typhoon Maysak hit the Ulithi Atoll.

Each summer we bring a dynamic team of students, educators, and adventurers with us to Ulithi. We work together to assist community leaders, local students and the One People One Reef team with the development of an action plan for youth leadership.

Cabrillo College Class – Genetics of Micronesian Marine Organisms

We are linking Cabrillo College students to the One People One Reef Program by involving them in research opportunities. In Fall 2016, we started with a small cohort of students, that extracted coral DNA to build a next-generation sequencing library. The coral project was to understand the mode of dispersal of Montipora, an aggressive, weedy species that is overgrowing entire reefs and converting them in monospecific stands in Ulithi atoll.

Future projects include population genetics of sea cucumbers of the Yap outer islands, and to continue with the Montipora project, to reveal its evolutionary history and past population expansions and reductions.

This unique opportunity allows community college students to gain experience, skills and understand in an undergraduate setting!

Ulithi ROV Project

In October of 2012, Underwater technologist Steve Moore and undergraduates Josh Ambrose and James McClure from Cal SUMB’s Ecosystem Electronics lab were invited to join the Ulithi Marine Conservation Project. Their unique contribution to this collaborative effort was to develop an ROV that could extend the accessible depth range beyond where the scientists had previously been able to collect data.

Over the next several months, Josh, James, and Steve, worked at a feverish pace to develop a workable prototype of an ROV capable of being transported by air to Ulithi and, once there, diving to a depth of 150 meters to record high-definition videos of that previously unseen deep-reef world. Learn more here!

Featured Videos

Featured Posts

The success of modern science in many areas has spread the notion that ever-advancing technology will enable us to solve all of our most pressing problems. And yet, on the remote outer islands of Micronesia, it is the rekindling of age-old traditional wisdom that could hold the key to sustainable ocean management. The people of the […]

http://ulithimarineconservation.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rekindle.jpg270710One People One Reefhttp://ulithimarineconservation.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/OnePeopleOneReef1-1030x582.jpgOne People One Reef2014-09-24 20:47:072017-10-31 16:34:42﻿ Modern Science: Rekindling ancient ways.

Recent Posts

Nicole L. Crane will be on Santa Cruz’s local radio station KSBO (1080 AM) this Sunday at 2pm Pacific! She’ll be on Planet Watch Radio to talk about One People One Reef’s work in the Outer Islands. If you can’t catch a live broadcast the show will be archived! You can find out more online […]

http://ulithimarineconservation.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/OnePeopleOneReef1-1030x582.jpg00One People One Reefhttp://ulithimarineconservation.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/OnePeopleOneReef1-1030x582.jpgOne People One Reef2017-09-15 03:41:212017-10-30 20:03:08OPOR on KSBO 1080 AM: September 17

http://ulithimarineconservation.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ifeluk16.jpg7501125One People One Reefhttp://ulithimarineconservation.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/OnePeopleOneReef1-1030x582.jpgOne People One Reef2017-06-11 01:06:032017-10-30 20:03:08Science Expedition: June 3rd & 4th

http://ulithimarineconservation.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/elato36BW.jpeg434640One People One Reefhttp://ulithimarineconservation.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/OnePeopleOneReef1-1030x582.jpgOne People One Reef2017-06-06 03:51:362017-10-30 20:03:08Science Expedition: June 3rd, 2017: Elato